Halifax made three comments concerning the Soviet proposals of 2 June:

(1) The British government acknowledges as entirely rightful our wish to receive a guarantee for our n[orth]-w[estern] border, and is ready to meet us halfway in this respect, but finds it undesirable to name Latvia, Estonia and Finland directly in the agreement (paragraph 1 in the Soviet proposals). These countries do not want a guarantee, and it is undesirable to create the impression that the tripartite bloc is imposing a guarantee upon them.

(2) The British government has grave doubts about paragraph 6 of our proposals (whereby the pact and the military agreement will enter into force simultaneously), as this would entail a major delay in the completion of negotiations. It would be desirable to publish at least a preliminary communiqué as soon as agreement is reached on the essence of the problem.

(3) Paragraph 5 of our proposals (undertakings not to conclude a separate peace, etc.) also raises some doubts. War objectives must be taken into consideration here. But Halifax did not dwell on this point and only said that he thought it would be easy to reach agreement on this matter.

Halifax reckons that Strang will be able to leave for Moscow on 12 or 13 June.

[Ironically, Maisky would henceforth be increasingly removed from the negotiations, warily conducted by Molotov in Moscow at the same time as feelers were put out to Germany. Halifax was reluctant to have the talks in London, as he doubted whether Maisky ‘would be given any latitude in negotiating’. Indeed, on the recommendation of Seeds, Maisky was no longer briefed by the Foreign Office about the course of the negotiations.

TNA FO 371 23067 C8097/3356/18; DDF, 2 Serie, XVI, Doc. 422, Naggiar to Bonnet, 14 June 1939.

A noticeable dissonance could now be felt. While Maisky evinced confidence in the prospects for concluding an agreement, Molotov remained sceptical and his attitude hardened. Maisky played down the obstacles and was ‘inclined to think’, as he wrote to Kollontay, that the alliance would be formed ‘in the not-too-distant future’. He likewise told Lloyd George’s son ‘that there was nothing to worry about for … [the British] Government had been gradually moving towards what the Russians wanted … He was quite confident … that agreement would be reached. He said our Government has now come 75% of the way & are bound to come the whole 100%.’ He told the Webbs that the agreement would be ‘settled and signed this week or next’.

RAN f.1702 op.4 d.111 l.20, 31 May; Lloyd George papers, LG/G/130, Gwilym Lloyd George to his father, 1 June 1939; Webb, diary, 12 June, p. 6665. He gave that same impression to the correspondent of the New York Times, 31 May, and as late as 24 June 1939.

It is striking that, at his meeting with Halifax on 8 June, Maisky was still convinced that negotiations were progressing along the right tracks and even spoke in ‘warm appreciation’ of Strang and his mission. From Paris, the other survivor of Litvinov’s protégés, Surits, shared Maisky’s optimism, informing Molotov that ‘no one here even considers it possible that the talks with us might break down and fail to result in an agreement’.

SPE, doc. 332.

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